The confirmation of a summit between President Biden and President Putin is positive news. The Presidents will meet in Geneva as Paul spends his 900th day as a Russian hostage [6/15/2021]. Our family is hopeful that this continued dialog initiated by the Biden Administration will create an opportunity for Paul's release. It follows meetings between Secretary of State Blinken and Foreign Minister Lavrov in Iceland [5/19/2021] and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev [5/24/2021].

The US Embassy continues its support of Paul. Consular staff traveled 8 hours to Mordovia again to see him last week [5/20/2021]. Paul has received a COVID-19 shot of unknown provenance. Despite his continued inability to get any medical information in English, someone named N. Meltin from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested his medical records for unknown reasons. Paul seems to be in good health and a repetitive stress injury on his elbow was seen to by prison doctors.

Paul's phone calls to our parents continue. Through them, we will be able to update him on the summit. We hope that we will be able to share news that the US and Russian Federation are at least engaged in a positive way on the many issues they share. Perhaps the issue dearest to our family - Paul's ongoing wrongful detention - will move closer to a solution.

[ White House announcement of summit: Statement by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on the Meeting Between President Joe Biden and President Vladimir Putin of Russia | The White House ]
[ State Department on Blinken/Lavrov meeting: Secretary Blinken’s Meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov - United States Department of State ]
[ White House on Sullivan/Patrushev meeting: Joint Statement on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s Meeting with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev | The White House ]
[US Embassy Press on Twitter about the visit to Paul: https://twitter.com/USEmbRuPress/status/1395415878683041796 ]